How about SNU as the Great American Conference men's basketball champion?

That's how it was Sunday in Bartlesville.

Paced by Micah Speight and Jhonathan Dunn with 15 points apiece, the Crimson Storm smoked out the Weevils of Arkansas-Monticello, 62-57, in the final of the GAC postseason tourney.

“This was an awesome game,” 10th-year SNU head coach Adam Bohac said afterward. “We hung in there in the first half. I was thrilled to be down by two at the half.”

The Crimson Storm blistered the nets in the second half (13-of-23 field goals, 4-of-10 three-pointers, 6-of-7 free throws) to capture their long-desired GAC title.

In the women's final that followed, Arkansas Tech possessed just a little more “oomph!” than Harding.

But, not that much more.

Ark Tech's Cheyenne North — who would be named the tourney's women's MVP — dialed in a field goal with just under three minutes left to push her team to a 63-59 lead.

Ark Tech didn't score again — but held on to beat the Harding Lady Bison, 63-62, and become the first women's team to win three GAC championships in the seven-year history of the conference.

In the postgame press conference, 11th-year Ark Tech head coach Dave Wilbers had one word for his victorious Golden Suns: “Overcomers.”

That word has become the unofficial team motto for his gritty group of talented warriors, he explained.

Following are more details for each championship game:

Men: SNU 62, Ark-Monticello 57

The Crimson Storm struggled mightily from the field (9-of-28) in the first half.

UAM fared better on its shooting (11-of-24) but sank only one three-pointer, compared to four for SNU.

The Weevils continued to stay in front, bounding out to an eight-point advantage, 49-41, on Derylton Hill's power drive and layup, with less than eight minutes remaining.

SNU's Coleman Edwards answered by drilling a three-pointer from the right angle — which energized the Crimson Storm.

After UAM failed to score on its following possession, Noah Starkey hauled down the rebound for the Crimson Storm, which went on the attack. Dunn scored moments later to trim UAM's lead to three points, 49-46.

Both teams then suffered a couple of empty possessions — including a mighty layup block by UAM's Karim Mawuenyega — before Dunn drilled a game-tying three-pointer to increase his team's run to 8-0.

With the score knotted, 49-49, the Weevils wiggled back into the lead, 52-49, on Hill's three-point play, with 4:11 showing.

But, SNU's Speight drained a trey to pull the game back even, 52-52, and electrify the noisy and teeming throng of red-clad Crimson Storm fans that virtually packed all the seats on the north side of the arena.

Following Speight's clutch three, the SNU crowd roared, “Defense! Defense! Defense!” as the Weevils went on the attack.

SNU players answered with a defensive stop and — quickly after — burst to the lead on Dunn's bucket, 54-52.

Women: Ark Tech 63, Harding 62

How about these numbers — 5-of-12 free throws compared to 18-of-21 for the other team; 32 rebounds compared to 41 for the opponent; 20-percent three-point shooting compared to 40 percent for the other team.

A stark contrast?

Yep.

But, with one twist — it was the winning team that posted the lower numbers.

However, the Ark Tech Golden Suns recorded the only number that really counted — 63 points compared to 62 for the Harding Lady Bison.

“I want to congratulate Harding for a tremendous run,” Ark Tech head coach Wilbers said after the game.

He credited his team's defense with making the difference in the game.

That — and taking care of the ball.

Ark Tech made only eight turnovers, compared to 18 for the Lady Bison.

Golden Sun guard Kylie Ladd said down the stretch of the season her team began to value every possession, which limited its turnovers.

“It worked for us,” she said.

North finished with a team-high 16 points — to go along with eight rebounds, six assists and nine blocks — for the Golden Sun.

Sydney Layrock buried 21 points for Harding, followed by Falan Miller with 13 and Amanda Kearney with nine.

These two determined squads waged a valiant battle throughout.

Harding burst to an 18-12 lead in the opening period, but Arkansas Tech broke loose in the second quarter to take a 34-32 advantage into halftime.

The Golden Suns upped their lead to four points, 51-47, through three stanzas.

The fierce scrap wrote a gritty final chapter in the last period.

A burst of scoring in the first 90 seconds — including two Lady Bison two-pointers and a trey by Ark Tech's Ke'Vonshaye Stackhouse — saw the margin modified to three points, in favor of Ark Tech, 54-51.

The Golden Sun then pushed out to a six-point bulge, 59-53, but Harding closed it down to two points, 61-59, on a pair of free throws by Kearney (who hit 7-of-7 in the game), a seven-foot cord tickler by Kellie Lampo and a spin-move-and-banker by Miller.

North answered with a deuce to dampen the Harding comeback — but only temporarily.

Several seconds later, Layrock busted home a three-pointer to make it a one-point game, 63-62.

That was it.

Neither team scored for nearly the final two minutes of the game.

With just less than 40 seconds left, the Golden Suns forced a key turnover with some contact that resulted in the ball bouncing off the knee of a Harding ballhandler and out of bounds.

But, Ark Tech was whistled with 5.6 seconds left for a shot clock violation.

On its final possession, Harding got the ball quickly across midcourt, but its last-gasp shot — just before the buzzer blared — was off-target to the left.

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